Investigation into Hazing at Texas SAE
 

http://www.statesman.com/news/conten...8/8hazing.html

Prosecutors investigating whether hazing preceded UT fraternity pledge's fatal fall
Sigma Alpha Epsilon is focus of probe after death of 18-year-old Tyler Cross.

This is the case where the pledge accidently fell from a 5th floor balcony of a dorm.

Update August 17 '07: Investigation Continuing

Station KVUE has an article about the investigation on its site:

http://www.kvue.com/news/top/stories....3e7f6663.html

Other Texas news sources, like the Austin American - Statesman and other stations, have stories too.

"IF" they did and it is proven, how do they spell STOOPID in Texas?:mad:

Way to go guys!

Probably better than you.

I think this is a good time to remember these are two separate issues.

Tyler's death was an unforunate tragedy with known circumstances that happen periodically to Greeks and non-Greeks alike. This does not excuse potential liability of any of a number of persons for any role in this specific situation, but this particular event was not the direct result of something unique to Greek Life.

The hazing is another matter entirely- and that is the business of the chapter, SAE and the appropriate city authorities to deal with.

What bothers me is local media making use of Tyler's death to attack the hazing issue. It adds a sensationalistic edge to a legitimate issue facing all Greeks and it plays on the stereotype of the evil frat guy.

You know as well as I do how the media (The Statesman, etc.) in Austin treats Greeks. They present articles and information with an extreme amount of bias and a general disdain for everything associated with us, especially the fraternities.

It's been an extremely long and difficult ordeal, we hope to get it resolved soon.

Brother,
You are all in our thoughts.

I do not doubt that a bit.

I certainly wish you all well in that- and yes, I well remember how the papers treated us. Mostly the Daily Texan back in my day though- the involvement of city newspapers was less common.

When that young man died last fall who was in that newer GLO located over by 19th and Rio Grande, it not only got Statesman coverage but there were several articles in the Houston Chronicle as well.

Not sure why the trend, but my first theory is that city newspapers in general are moving in a direction where they pick up and sensationalize stories like this in an effort to emulate the more successful cable network format and try to hang on to their readership as the newspaper format becomes less relevant and relied on in general.

Back in my time, the Daily Texan ran articles for MONTHS because someone had been photographed indoors at a private fraternity party (not a Beta party, but one of the other big houses at the time) wearing blackface- and he was photographed by someone who illegally entered the party for the paper, thus violating one of those key risk management concepts (no open parties) that our critics like to think we ignore.

Granted, if I ever dropped by my chapter and saw someone in blackface I would be pretty pissed, but there is no grounds for such a thing done indoors on private property to be broadcast in the media.

Come to think of it, maybe I should not be so surprised about the ethics of many journalists considering what a lot of the student journalists at Texas were practicing in their formative years. (To be fair, the Daily Texan appears far more responsibly run now than it was back then.)

Haha, yeah, The Daily Texas is nothing short of a terrible publication.

.....they hate us.

All GLos or just SAE?

Everyone

My Brother answered before I could Tom.
Given the tone of several of the posters in this thread, a very fair
guess would have been ALL GLO's.

Update on Investigation (November 17, 2007)

Station KVUE has an update (November 16, 2007) about the investigation:

http://www.kvue.com/news/local/stori....defda43.html#

Brief excerpts:
. . . the University of Texas has completed an investigation into the death of Tyler Cross.
The 18-year old freshman died November 17th, 2006 when he fell from his 5th story balcony . . . ..
. . . the U.T. Dean of Students told KVUE that the university has taken action against several members of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity, but . . . would not give specifics.

She did say the question now is what action if any the university will take against the Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity itself.

This summer, an investigation by the Travis County Attorney's office discovered that fraternity members may have used a cattle prod on Tyler Cross before his death.

There's also a question of who provided alcohol for the teenager. His blood alcohol content was . . . more than twice the legal limit in Texas.

The Travis County Attorney says he's waiting on the U.T. Dean of Students to make a decision regarding Sigma Alpha Epsilon before his office takes any further action.

Update April 15, 2008
The local newspaper in Austin has a fairly long article that describes the terms and conditions recently agreed upon by the university and Sigma Alpha Epsilon. A few quotes from various officials and representatives are included:

http://www.statesman.com/blogs/conte...agreement.html

Edited to add: The university's press release, which includes a link to the complete agreement (which I believe is also available from a source given in the next post in this thread), is at:

http://www.utexas.edu/news/2008/04/15/sae-agreement/

From another local media source:
The 13 page agreement:
http://www.kvue.com/downloads/2743_SAE_agreement.pdf

Wow, at first when I read the article in the statesman, I thought it wasn't that big of a deal. But, in reading the 13 page agreement, there are some really hefty rules and regulations, and the penalties for breaking them are severe.

IMO, It almost seems as if they are being set up for a fall - Unscheduled visits by the APD, TABC, or DOS - police state with no privacy protection. All the restrictions on rushing, pledge period, parties, etc. with no wiggle room seems like a recipe for failure. Also, there is the repeated stipulation that SAE and its members, by agreeing to the terms of the agreement, waive all rights to appeal any decision by the DOS (excluding disciplinary action by the president). So, any violation of any of the rules and they, as a group or individually, are dumped with no recourse.

Maybe this is the type of document that pushed KA away from the IFC table, where they said to he** with you, we're going out on our own.

srmom; I have read the agreement three times already, and I still am getting my mind around it.
And I have to wonder if this is going to be extended, in one form or another to the rest of the GLO's on campus?

It will most certainly be very interesting to see what happens.

I'm not going to really comment on it. For one, I'm about to graduate and my involvement with the chapter outside of paying dues and attending a few of our big events a year and game day tailgates over the past couple is pretty small. Two, this is an internet forum and I just don't really think details of something like this need to be discussed.

I think the agreement is pretty fair....although something that will most certainly test the RESPONSIBILITY of our chapter over the next five years. For all of the allegations, penalties, etc. that SAE here has endured over the past few years......I think the stipulations outlined are pretty fair. Although it will be far more structured......the house can still rush, can still treat pledges somewhat like pledges, and can still have social events.

Thank you Brother for your insight into this matter.
The very best to you and the Chapter.

And more follow-up from local news paper-which IMVHO is a bit slanted:
SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT
UT, frat reach agreement after hazing death

Settlement comes in response to hazing incident in fall 2006.

A year and a half after an 18-year-old University of Texas fraternity pledge fell to his death from a fifth-floor balcony, the university and the local chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon announced Tuesday that they've reached an agreement that will allow the fraternity to keep operating if it changes its pledging process and social activities.
But the parents of Tyler Cross say they are disappointed by the agreement. Cross was a freshman from Marietta, Ga., when he died. He had followed in his older brother's footsteps in attending UT and pledging Sigma Alpha Epsilon.
"We are definitely surprised by this agreement and disappointed that we were not contacted or consulted regarding this agreement by either the university or the SAE fraternity advisors and alumni given that our precious son, Tyler, was the victim of the hazing incident that prompted this action," Debbie and Don Cross said in a written statement Tuesday.
http://www.statesman.com/news/conten...416hazing.html

From the Daily Texan The Campus Paper:

Fraternity agrees to prohibit hazing, underage drinking
http://media.www.dailytexanonline.co...-3327933.shtml

Viewpoint: All eyes on SAE
http://media.www.dailytexanonline.co...-3327886.shtml

Update April 25, 2008: Four Charged

Hazing-related charges have been brought by Travis County (TX). A Houston newspaper has an Associated Press article on the charges and some of the alleged actions. Other news sources in Texas have somewhat similar stories:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5731349.html

Edited to add: The Austin paper appears to have more details on the alleged actions:

http://www.statesman.com/news/conten...0426cross.html

A reminder, please: people charged are presumed innocent.

Brother Mac;
Best wishes to you and the rest of the Brothers during this time.
You are all in my thoughts.

Holy crap! Cattle prods? Jesus, come on, guys.

Update April 28, 2007

The pleas and sentences, as reported by the Austin newspaper:

http://www.statesman.com/news/conten...429hazing.html

How does this chapter still have its charter? Schools and headquarters need to take a tougher stance on behavior and actions like these. I don't care who the alumni are or what connections they have these actions are disgusting and give all greeks a bad name.

We have an outstanding chapter, recognized as such both locally and nationally. Fortunately the actions of a few didn't affect the whole worse than they already have. I think the actions taken were fair and balanced.

Uhm...I believe I saw y'all got in trouble again.

edit: nevermind...the president, vice-prez, and pledge trainer were convicted of hazing...probably already mentioned though.

...so says the Delta Upsilon from Ohio.

None of them are down here anymore either. Graduated, grad school, etc. Two had to come in from New York for the proceedings.

That sucks.

Not even involved with the chapter on a daily basis level anymore

Hazing laws are suppose to get rid of hazing but...I mean, they aren't going to haze anymore cuz they're long graduated. They should of just charged them with battery or something like that.

Daily Texan front page story today:

http://media.www.dailytexanonline.co...-3352775.shtml

Pretty awful stuff.

Looking at those things they have been accused of (I don't know what they've actually admitted to, so a lot of this could be exaggerated), what jumps out at me is the fact that many of these activities are extremely unsafe.

A lot of this stuff, i.e., the "bows and toes," is really not unsafe, painful as hell, but not really unsafe, at least no more unsafe than flag football.

The forced drinking? That is unsafe. I often hear hazing proponents say that they "know where to draw the line," well, clearly, this is evidence that this is not always the case. At least here it wasn't. If what happened here happened as described, it's a real wonder no one was really seriously injured or died as a result of this hazing.

All that said, I don't expect these criminal complaints to amount to anything more than a few suspended sentences. I'll say what I said about the Alpha Phi Alphas at Oklahoma State -- these are likely good kids and society would be better served if they had a second chance and a clean slate.

Well, I do have to wonder about what is going to happen to their careers as Investment Bankers. That can be a rather ram-rod straight group there. One of my Brothers is a Managing Partner/Director of one and I have to wonder what he would say if someone told him just how they spent their weekend and why:
Two sentenced to 4 days in jail for hazing
Four UT fraternity members sentenced for 2006 treatment of pledges.
http://www.news8austin.com/content/top_stories/default.asp?ArID=207076

http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/04/29/0429hazing.html

Could it have been worse? Yes. In many ways-including felony charges.
As I said, their career path may have just hit a speed bump if not worse.
Kevin-I hope you are correct.

These convictions can really hurt them on law school/Bar Admissions processes.

But if they're going into the corporate world, this sort of behavior is par for the course :)

Helllllooooo, Chase Bolding.

Too bad you shock people with cattle prods. :eek:

:confused::confused::confused:

I'm glad they are at least being held somewhat accountable. In all, I think those guys are lucky they're getting off so light. I'm glad the 2 still in school will at least set foot in jail as an example to other current students and I'm glad the other two were yanked away from their professional lives to own up to their actions. Although considering their line of work, I'm not sure their professional environment will in any way look askance at this, it's probably much like a graduate fraternity environment in those places. I do, however, very much want to give both of them a haircut.

Do you know him?

Great guy actually.

Brother;
Could you have him give me a call.
Just so we could get together and prove to that poster that we are not
one in the same:D;)
Given their history here, they should have been able to figure that out all
by themselves:rolleyes:

No, he's just pretty good-looking. From the picture.